Wednesday 17 December 2014

Tuesday, 16 December 2014, Pages 193 - 200, Lestrygonians, Episode 8

We read as far as "Change the subject." (Gabler 8.275) (Penguin 200.20)

Last week when we left Bloom, he had finished feeding crumbs of Banbury cakes (two for a penny) to gulls, had wondered why the saltwater fish were not salty, and had just noticed an anchored rowboat carrying an advertisement for Kino's trousers. On these pages, Bloom's wanderings continue. During its course, he wonders about the kinds of advertisements that would be effective (and not effective), thinks fondly of his wife Molly and daughter Milly, catches the smell of food from Harrison's, and meets Mrs. Breen, the former Josie Powell.

For Bloom, the advertisement procurer, placing an ad on the rowboat is a good idea. All kinds of places are good for ads.  Like the ad of Dr Hy Franks for claps (venereal diseases) in the greenhouses (public urinals). Like the self advertisement of the dancing master, Magninni (actually Magninnis, the dropping of the 's' makes the name sound more Italian. Naturally.)

By then Bloom sees somebody, thinks that he recognizes him, but is not sure that it is in fact the person who he thinks it to be. Decides not to think any more about it, and moves forward. (Is the person Bloom thought he saw was Boylan?) The position of the timeball on the ballastoffice shows that the time is after one in the afternoon. (A 'time ball' is a ball on a pole rigged to drop at a specific time, so that ships' chronometers could be checked / Gifford* 8.109. Read more about the time ball of the Ballast Office here.) Thinking of time, Bloom is reminded of one of the books he admires, the book, The Story of the Heavens, (download the book here) by the astronomer royal, Sir Robert Ball (1840 - 1913). He is also made aware of the fact that he does not understand exactly what 'parallax' means. This kind of 'not understanding', leads his thoughts to Molly, to whom he had tried to explain that morning the meaning of the word metempsychosis.

The art of advertising becomes the topic of Bloom's thoughts once again as he sees a procession of sandwichmen (men who are carrying advertisements hung from their shoulders) carrying the letters H. E. L. Y. S.
A Sandwich man
Source: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/30937/30937-h/30937-h.htm

Bloom does not think much of this kind of advertisement. He had suggested instead to Hely, the stationer, another modern kind of advertisement with smart girls in a transparent showcart. He knows that people, women too, would be curious at such an advertisement. They would stare, look back too. 'Looking back' makes Bloom think of the Genesis story of Lot's wife, who by looking back turned into a pillar of salt.

Bloom had worked in the past for the Hely's collecting accounts. That was a devil of a job, particularly collecting money from the convents, like the Tranquilla convent in Rathmines, south of Dublin. Convents, nuns, Pat Claffey, the daughter the pawnbroker, who became a nun... each thought leads to the next.

The sight of the Rover Cycleshop on Westmoreland street is a cue to think of races, of him attending The Glencree dinner with Molly, who was then wearing an elephantgrey dress with braided frogs. It was the year Phil Gilligan died. It was ten years ago: ninetyfour he died. (This last sentence is the first hint that the day of Bloom's wanderings is set in the year 1916.)

Braided frogs
Source: http://bennosbuttons.com/fr-1104-braided-frog-closure.html
As he walks on reminiscenceing about Molly, Bloom meets Mrs. Breen, formerly Josie Powell. They converse for a while, doing small talk. Mrs. Breen wants to tell Bloom about her husband, and rummages in her handbag. Bloom's keen eyes observe all the things the handbag contains. Finally Mr. Breen fishes out a postcard with the words U.P.: up. (One of the many explanations Gifford* (8.258) gives for U.P.:up is that in Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist, chapter 24, this expression is used by an apothecary's apprentice to announce the imminent death of an old woman.)  Though there was no name of the sender on the card, her husband was very upset at receiving the card, and was at that moment going to Mr. Menton's office to take an action for ten thousand pounds.  For libel.

While Mrs. Breen folds the card into her untidy bag and snaps the catch, with Bloom observing how unkempt she looks- Shabby genteel - pungent mockturtle oxtail mulligatawny soup smell assails his nose. He realizes he is hungry too. It is lunch time.

*Ulysses Annotated, Notes for James Joyce's Ulysses by Don Gifford with Robert J. Seidman. University of California Press, 1988